TASTY TRIX

A Surplus of Tapas: Small Bites Across Madrid for (Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:49:00 +0000

First stop: Mercado de San Miguel. A bit touristy, but worth it.

Inside the mercado ... so many choices

First tapas in Madrid: cheese, cheese, and more cheese (Not pictured: wine, wine, and more wine)

Given that my last blog post was written entirely in sonnet form, I thought it might be a good idea to give the verbal portion of my brain a bit of a rest and attempt a Wordless Wednesday post summing up the mountains of tapas that Poppa Trix and I consumed in Madrid in just six days.

I say attempt a Wordless Wednesday post because look! I have already failed at keeping my virtual trap shut ... but I will reign in my wordiness as much as is constitutionally possible. Captions don't count, right?
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Salmorejo: A Spanish Soup Recipe in Sonnets

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Thu, 09 May 2013 17:16:00 +0000

If you have not experienced the intense pleasure of perusing Trevor's haiku posts over at Sis Boom Blog I suggest you do so immediately. They are quite brilliant, and he really outdid himself for National Haiku Day: He even rendered his entire recipe in haiku form.

To add to the fun, he encourages his readers to leave haiku comments. I am usually glad to oblige, but for Haiku Day I decided to do something a bit different and I left my comment as a sonnet. (Per Sherlock: "Of course I'm showing off. I am a show off. That's what we do.")

And so I thought - why keep my sonnets confined to Trevor's comment section, worthy outlet though it is? After all, coming up with some clever prose about every dish I make can feel a bit ... forced sometimes.

And well, there's nothing contrived or forced about a sonnet recipe is there? I thank you in advance for your indulgence.
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Mother's Day Macaron Giveaway from Sucre {Ah, Alliteration}

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Wed, 01 May 2013 14:28:00 +0000

Like a lot of food bloggers these days, I regularly get requests from publicists asking me to share their respective products with my readers.

"Please review this flavorless processed snack food!"

"I think your readers would love to hear about the latest innovation in microwave dinner technology!"

"Here are some uninspired recipes featuring [insert food product here]. Please share with your readers!"

"We are offering one lucky reader a chance to win this coupon for gum, valued at 25 cents!"

Do a cursory search through the Tasty Trix archives and you'll notice that I invariably ignore these requests. They tend to display a staggering lack of understanding of what I write about, what I cook, and who I am.

But exceptions prove the rule. Case in point: The email I got from Sucre in New Orleans, offering to send one of my U.S. readers their signature 15-piece macaron collection in time for Mother's Day.

Well. This was more like it.
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Bravas Sauce & Leek Tortilla Pinchos, An Altogether Different Sort of BLT

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:56:00 +0000

This month's Creative Culinary Crew challenge, hosted as ever by the lovely and talented Joan of Foodalogue and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks, was deceptively simple: Come up with a new version of the classic BLT sandwich. The catch? Participants were forbidden to use bacon, lettuce, or tomato to fulfill the BLT requirement.

Right, then. That's as easy as plugging in any old foodstuff that begins with a B, an L, and a T, yes? Ah, but there's the rub: such a random approach would not only (in my opinion) lead to an uninspired kitchen-sink mess of a sandwich (barnacles, liver, & turmeric, anyone?) it would result in a dish completely lacking in context.
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Lisbonese Food Porn: Tiger Prawns, Barnacles, and Sundry Wiggly Things

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 20:05:00 +0000

Rooftops in Lisbon, Portugal

The iconic Lisbon funicular

As I write this, I am sick in bed on a beautiful spring day. I had planned all manner of witty bon mots and profound thoughts about the beauty of Lisbon to share with you in this post - how I am attracted to spaces that are grand yet crumbling, redolent of faded glory and elegant decay, somewhat melancholy, or (like Iceland) severe and other-worldly.

But I am too tired and instead I will let the photos above speak for themselves, and settle for sharing some food porn with you for a much-needed distraction at the end of a truly awful week in world news.
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Portugese Aletejana: A Bold Dish of Pork & Clams

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:37:00 +0000

As melodious food pairing names go, "pork and clams" just doesn't have the same ring as, say, "champagne and caviar," "wine and cheese," or even "peanut butter and jelly." But don't be put off. The poetry on the plate that results when these two ingredients come together in one dish more than makes up for its slightly clunky name.

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Cashew Butter & Bacon Soup {Inspired by Goober Peas & African Groundnut Stews}

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:56:00 +0000

This month's Creative Cooking Crew Challenge - hosted as ever by the lovely and talented Joan of Foodalogue and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks - centers around four key ingredients: green apples, bacon, nut butter, and vinegar. Participants have been tasked with creating any dish they like, using as many or as few ingredients as they please, as long as it incorporates some version of these four components.

For good or ill, I will cheerfully turn just about anything into soup, and this challenge has done nothing to discourage this propensity of mine. Here I took inspiration from a Southern American dish, goober pea soup, a peanut-based soup eaten by the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The ancestor of this dish is of course West African groundnut, or peanut stew. Goober is an African word for peanut, an example of the indelible imprint that African ingredients and foods, via the slave trade, made on the cuisine of the American South.
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Steak, Pepper & Goat Cheese Crustless Quiche {Brunch, a Plea}

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:31:00 +0000

I made a surprising discovery recently while doing some research for my monthly Style recipe column. The concept of brunch, which I had long supposed to be a uniquely American invention, was in fact first mentioned in print 1895 by British author Guy Beringer in the rather melodramatically-titled article "Brunch, A Plea."

He opined, "Instead of England's early Sunday dinner, a post-church ordeal of heavy meats and savory pies, why not a new meal, served around noon, that starts with tea or coffee, marmalade and other breakfast fixtures before moving along to the heavier fare? By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday-night carousers."

A man after my own heart, this Guy. Naturally, I heartily approve of supplanting the dreary moralizing activity of churchgoing with the life-affirming pursuit of eating, especially when it's undertaken at a civilized hour, like noon. And then there's his wholehearted approval of Saturday night carousing: no puritanical guilt or whiff of self-flagellation for an evening of indulgence here. A laudably healthy attitude.
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Another Cauliflower Risotto Post {It's Just Cooking, After All}

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:23:00 +0000

As a professional food writer, food blogger, and sometime paid cook, I believe people generally expect me to be obsessed with cooking shows in general, and cooking competition shows specifically. And I used to be. Sort of.

My original interest in the genre began before I could fry an egg, back when I was living in NYC and Bobby Flay had not yet sunk his ginger claws into the Iron Chef franchise. (He was instead busy grilling things and using ancho chiles in everything with Jackie Maloof on Food Network.)
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Bangers & Mash-Up: A Meat and Potatoes Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:45:00 +0000

Nothing will shake me out of my blogging doldrums like a good old Creative Cooking Crew challenge. This month's challenge, hosted by the fab Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! and the lovely Joan of Foodalogue, was as wide open as it gets: We were tasked with creating a dish around the theme of "meat and potatoes."

So. Where to begin? Well, given that I have been on something of a British television kick lately (particularly BBC Sherlock, but as this is a food blog and not a fangirl's Tumblr I will spare you the details) I decided I would look to the traditional cuisine of the U.K. for ideas.
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Whiskey, Three Ways: Lovely Booze-y Cocktails for Valentine's Day ... or Anytime

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:24:00 +0000

When I was invited by the Four Seasons to participate in their Taste by Four Seasons Valentine's Day virtual cocktail class it took me about thislong to say "yes!" After all, the featured ingredient was to be whiskey - in this case, Knob Creek Rye Whiskey. And you know me.

Bourbon, whiskey, Scotch ... I love it all, whether neat or in a well crafted cocktail, and given that participants would be learning recipes from three Four Seasons mixologists, I felt confident that these cocktails would be beautifully balanced. I was absolutely correct in that assumption.

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Tofu "Bulgogi" and Kimchi Fried Rice {vegetarian}

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:57:00 +0000

This is one of those posts where I confess that I have no fascinating story to share with you that relates to the dish I am about to describe. Escapades involving rice, Korean food, tofu, and runny fried eggs neither lurk in my past nor are buried deep in my unconscious.

It's just a good dish, and that is all.

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No-Egg Gnocchi with Roasted Garlic Cashew Nut "Cheese" {Vegan}

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 18:32:00 +0000

It's a new year, and the 5 Star Makeover group has undergone a transformation. We have a new logo and name:

As you can see, we're now the Creative Cooking Crew, helmed by Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks and Joan of Foodalogue. Rather than doing makeovers, our mission each month is to create original dishes inspired by a theme.

This month, the challenge was to create a vegan dish inspired by a meat or animal-product-heavy meal. I drew inspiration from one of my very favorite fattening things: gnocchi slathered with plenty of butter and Parmesan cheese.

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Creamy Chicken Soup with Parsnips, White Pepper, & Peas {to cure a bad mood}

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:30:00 +0000

I've been having one of those weeks. You know the kind - where everything and everyone conspires to irritate, annoy, and infuriate.

But that's okay, because I have a secret weapon: soup. Yes, soup. We all know the restorative properties of chicken soup, and this version adds even more punch with the addition of a little cream and half and half and a sinus-clearing amount of white pepper.

Each slurp of this soup not only contributed to an increased sense of equanimity and well-being, it gave me strength to (figuratively) vanquish my annoying enemies.

Or maybe that was the booze?
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Chicken, Cabbage, & Cashew Stir Fried Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:57:00 +0000

Do you really need me to tell you how to make a simple stir fried rice dish I made for dinner one weeknight?

But what the heck - I'll tell you anyway. After all, as my professional recipe development, food and travel writing, and photography obligations grow (I am neither complaining nor humble-bragging - I unabashedly love it!), I find that I have less and less time to make complicated dishes just for fun. Which is what this blog is supposed to be - fun.
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Bucatini in Tomato Saffron Cream with Wild Salmon

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 15:41:00 +0000

Pasta and cream. Not exactly a New Year's resolution friendly dish. But that is kind of my point. I am posting this simply because I feel like it.

Let me back up and explain.

I have noticed an off-putting proscriptive tendency creeping into some food blogging lately. Year-end posts have popped up here and there purporting to be the last word on what food blogging should and should not be, and what we bloggers must and must not do.

As snarky as I know I can be, I find these proclamations - even when they claim to be tongue in cheek - a little too self-congratulatory for their own good.
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A Holiday Lunch at Family Meal: Bryan Voltaggio's Retro Casual Eatery

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 16:23:00 +0000

My favorite thing about the holiday season is the way I let myself relax and slow down. I realize this goes against the conventional wisdom: for many, this is a frantic time of year. Too many parties to attend, last-minute gifts to buy, family obligations that must be met, and so on.

But I don't really go in for all of that mania. For the last week or so of each year, I unwind. I only make engagements that I want to keep. I take deep breaths. I cook what I want, when I want. I take long walks with my dog. I enjoy some alone time. And if I'm very lucky, I get to go out for a rare weekday lunch with Poppa Trix.

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Blueberry, Bourbon, & Brown Butter Spiced Cakebread: the Un-Fruitcake

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 16:35:00 +0000

Recently, a representative from the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council saw my recipe for seared duck breast with blueberry sage sauce and invited me to participate in a recipe competition. The rules? Create an original sweet or savory recipe featuring winter fresh or frozen blueberries. Extra points for twisting up tradition and creating a new classic holiday dish.

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Gourmet Rhubarb and Pepper Jellies from Iceland: A Holiday Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 15:53:00 +0000

When Poppa Trix and I were in Iceland, we met a really cool woman named Eirny Sigardurdottir, who owns Búrið, a lovely and quirky little cheese shop in Reykjavik. If you're ever in Reykjavik and you have have a hankering to put together a cheese feast, that's your spot, as I suspect Eirny knows more about cheese and what goes with it than just about any other person on the planet.

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Charlevoix, Quebec: Odds and Ends from the Flavor Trail

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 16:04:00 +0000

The vibrant produce at the farmers market at Le Ferme in Baie-Saint-Paul, the first stop on the gastronomy train

In early September I was fortunate to be one of four journalists chosen to go on a food-centric press trip to explore the Flavor Trail in Charlevoix, Quebec. I drank cider, consumed my weight in local cheese, and ate more (ethically raised, local) foie gras in three days than I had in my entire life up to that point.

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Mini Skyr and Birch Liqueur Cakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 23:01:00 +0000

As you can see, I continue to obsess over all things Icelandic after our recent vacation. First it was Icelandic lamb, and now it's skyr, the Icelandic yogurt that is technically a cheese. (Truth be told, I have been eating the stuff for breakfast since long before our trip. It's a bit like Greek yogurt, but creamier.)

Here I've substituted vanilla skyr for yogurt in a Trixified version of yogurt cake. I also included a splash of Birkir, an Icelandic birch liqueur with a distinctive, almost resin-like taste. It imparted a very subtle "What's that?" kind of quality to my mini cakes - if you can't get your hands on any, substitute a pine liqueur. I used Madagascar vanilla bean in both the cake batter and the frosting, and threw in some coffee extract to give the frosting a little oomph.

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Cheddar Cheese Soup with Haricots Verts, Mushrooms, & Cronions; A Green Bean Casserole Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:51:00 +0000

In honor of Thanksgiving, the theme for this month's 5 Star Makeover, hosted as ever by Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! is a holiday classic, the green bean casserole.

For those of you who did not grow up in the U.S., the green bean casserole is a staple of many American Thanksgiving celebrations, and generally consists of some variation of canned or frozen green beans, cream of mushroom soup, cheddar cheese or imitation cheese product, and bread crumbs or fried onions. It's a gloriously and unabashedly white trash dish, and it conforms perfectly to my late, much-missed mom's philosophy of cooking: Do as little as possible.

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Icelandic Lamb Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:28:00 +0000

We got back from Iceland late last week, and I already miss the stark landscapes, black lava fields, golden grass, slate gray sky, the buildings of Reykjavik ... and, me being me, most of all I miss the food.

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Y Mucho Mas for a Belated Wordless Wednesday Send Off: Mexican Extras Part 2: Skulls and Bat Gods and Wrestling and Things I Forgot!

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 15:02:00 +0000

We leave for a short-ish trip to Reykjavik today, so I thought this was the perfect time to share some last images of Mexico City from my trip last March. Also, I have no time to write very much so we'll call it a belated Wordless Wednesday post, shall we?

And these skulls (above and below) are the perfect image for the Day of the Dead, or Dios des los Muertos.
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Triple Pumpkin Curry

noreply@blogger.com (Trix Middlekauff) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:15:00 +0000

My dish for this month's 5 Star Makeover - hosted as ever by Natasha of 5 Star Foodie and Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks - came about quite by accident. As in, I made the dish on purpose and only later realized that it fit with the October theme of squash. And retrofit it with the catchy little name of "triple pumpkin curry." And it's a good thing too, because otherwise I may have missed a 5 Star challenge for the very first time.

I am not so vain as to think you are sitting around wondering where on earth I have been and sighing and moping and waiting expectantly for my return (though hugs to you if you have) but the fact is I haven't posted for weeks. It's a record posting drought, in fact! It's not that I haven't been inspired. And I certainly (in between having a sinus thing and not being able to breathe) have been cooking. A lot. And writing. Tons.
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